toxic air. authorities warn pollution around beijing is spreading to other parts of the cotry. residents of beijing have woken up for much of the past month under a dome of smog. they look out their windows to a haze of pollution and residents of other cities are seeing the same things. officials say nearly half the population has been affected by serious air pollution. the official said smog containing fine particulate matter has blanketed a quarter of the land. the air and about 70% of chinese

cities doesn't meet environmental standards. each year 15 million more cars take to the road. government officials want to reduce the density of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere. a think tank says air pollution exceeded national standards for 27 days in january. people across china have their own opinions on what needs to be done. academics and residents shared some ide i beijing. the group friends of nature hosted the debate. one par tticipant called for tighter control. another said the government should crackdown on companies that ignore environmental laws. they plan to submit proposals next month. >> translator: we want to the government to be transparent.

>> the pollution has turned out company in beijing.y for one the firm is selling cans of fresh air for about 75 cents a piece. the manager says the air comes from another province. he says the cans are selling well. senior officials from japan and russia are trying to resolve the things that divide them. they found common ground in an area of mutual concern. they met in moscow for the japan-russia strategic dialogue. the scope of the discussion went well beyond their two countries. japan's vice foreign minister met with the deputy foreign minister. the diplomats agreed to work together to encourage the north koreans to exercise self-restraint. japanese prime minister shinzo

abe plans to visit russia some time this year. saying russian officials, too, want to nurture the relationship. haveundamental diffences d they over russian-held islands which are claimed by japan. but they've agreed to work toward resolving territorial and other disputes. their own to clarify the official on the northern claims. they want to be understood in and outside the country. japan is caught up over the senkaku islands. right now teams fm the foreign min tri, the cabinet office and the cabinet handle those files. they will expand the cabinet team to coordinate responses.

the crews of chinese ships are getting bolder in the senkaku islands. japan controls the islands. china and taiwan claim them. japan coast guard crews confirmed the two ships entered japanese water onmonday. the ships left the water before midnight. it was the longest intrusion since japan nationalized the islands in september. officials launched a protest through china's embassy. they will conduct regular patrols around the island. prime minister abe is expected to raise the issue with president barack obama when they meet later this month. they will go over something that's been a thorn in japan-u. relatis. threlocation of a u.s. military base.

both governments want the plan to go ahead but the people in japan south aren't on board. >> reporter: they talk about relocating the station. >> translar: we must remove as possible, in accordance with an agreement with the u.s. government. >> translator: we want the base to be moved out of okinawa. >> reporter: okinawa is japan's southernmost prefecture. the island district comprises only 0.6% of japan's land but hosts 70% of the u.s. bases in the nation. for many, futenma symbolizes okinawans unfair burden in ensuring japan's security. this is the futenma air station.

you see aircrafts, runway and if you turn this way, you can see how close the residential area of okinawa is to the space. in 1996, the u.s. agreed to return the futenma site to japan. masahide ota was okinawa's governor then. >> i was so happy, and -- but after one year or so, i was told that the, even though they would return the futenma marine corps air base, they need to leave an occasional site to within okinawa. >> reporter: within okinawa? >> within okinawa. so i was very much discouraged. >> reporter: the japanese and the u.s. governments agreed to move the base to henoko in northern okinawa.

residents oppose the plan. they say the base should be moved out of okinawa, or the burden of its people will remain. opposition to the base was fueled by a series of crimes, including the rape involving u.s. service members. deployment of the u.s. osprey aircraft also angered local people over its poor safety record. ota said that if the u.s./japan security treaty was crucial to japan, the rest of the country should share the burden of the air station, and that moving it within okinawa would be unfair and unreasonable. >> prime minister abe tried to regain the trust of the okinawan people. i don't think it would work. this central government tried to listen to okinawan people and

tried to solve the problems based on the okinawan people's request. >> reporter: abe stressed that the japan/u.s. alliance is an essential element over his foreign policy. he says he hopes to transfer the relationship when he meets u.s. president barack obama. relocating the futenma air station will likely be a key issue for japan/u.s. relations. nhk world, okinawa. people living in spain are upset about what they are reading. what's did the accused say? >> they say they are innocent but have yet to show proof.

people in spain are angry. a corruption scandal, even the prime minister is threatening to derail economic reform. more than ten ruling party executives have been taking kick backs for many years. the publication says the prime minister pocketed as much as $3000 a year from construction firms and other businesses. he allegedly took the money for a dozen years until 2008. spanish citizens are especially furious as the same government is pressing austerity measures upon them hiking their taxes and cutting public servants pay. opposition parties are demanding the prime minister's resignation. they say he's not fit to be leader as the country faces its fiscal crisis. he's deniedhe allegations. >> translator: i must reiterate what i said last saturday. nothing in report about me and

my fellow party members is correct. what is being published in the media and otherwise expressed is competely and utterly false. >> the prime minister said he has no intention of stepping down. he's promised to release documents listing his income and assets. it's sent ripples through the financial market. the dow jones plunged 130 points. investors place orders on a wide range of shares after learning of the spanish government. there's another political worry in italy. it involves the prime minister. he's reportedly gaining support in the upcoming election. analysts say market players are concern these factors could trigger dot over financial

reforms. the european political jitters hurt expectations of a further increase of the dow which rose to the 14,000 level in more than than five years last week. the nikkei had a onto currencies now. the dollar and the euro are trading lower against the yen. the dollar dropped briefly. the pair is changing hands at 92.41 to

the kospi is trading lower. in australia the benchmark index is trading lower by two-thirds of a percent, 4,874. a weaker yen has prompted toyota motor to upgrade its earnings forecast. as of november last year toyota's domestic centered parent firm expected a net operating loss of over $200 million for the current fiscal year. back then a strong yen would continue to dampen exports. after the yen weakened in mid-november, the parent company raised its exports. nhk learned toyota officials expect hundreds of millions of dollars in operating profits. they're set to release official

figures later today. the higher profit will likely boost earnings for the whole group which includes overseas operations. as japan car makerwelce the ak y that's all they need. there's a sharp increase in imported fuel costs. tepco president says the weakening yen will push up fuel costs. tepco will register a net loss.

>> translator: tepco remains financially weak. it needs structure that will be harsher than ever. we'll do all we can to reduce costs as well as reschedule some of our debt. >> theperator ofhe crippled fushima pnt is under a state backed rehabilitation program. that's all for now in business. executives taiwanse companies are finding success in the small things. they're establishing a growing presence making products or components for other firms, something called contract manufacturing. they've learned they've got to be fast, and flexible. nhk world has more from taipei. >> reporter: the industry is one

of the main engines for the taiwanese economy. companies focus on speed. this manufacturer is trying to develop a digital camera, originally created in japan. now, taiwanese firms have gained the know-how to make those products on consignment. the facility allows mass production. they also need to be flexible to meet the market needs of their clients. >> translator: the top priority is speed. speed can help develop technology, and it can also help us take the lead in the market. >> translator: to speed up work, this company delegates more authority to project managers. >> translator: we are already

negotiating inspection methods with a japanese firm. the decision will be made soon. >> reporter: the maker plans to regain full-fledged production in the first half of this year. >> translator: we'll shorten the time to get the parts we need by making them inside our group. this should enable us to manufacture products two to four months faster than japanese makers. >> reporter: authorities at such firms are pressing a priority on speed. this research institute acquired many new products. the institute supports its research to set up enterprises on their own. so far, more than 70 formal researchers are running startups.

and there's new developed panels in only three years. he says the vivid images can compete with those made by other screens. the firm will begin mass production by the end of this year. >> translator: taiwan is currently full of vitality and new ideas. we hope to provide more useful products to consumers. >> reporter: as the growing economy remains sluggish, taiwanese companies cannot escape the negative impact. but the efforts are allowing them to become more prominent than ever. nhk world.

women on japan's judo team are speaking out. they're speaking out about why they blew the whistle on their head coach. he stepped down last week after 15 athletes submitted a complaint to the japanese olympic committee. they accused him and other coaches of abusive behavior. they say they feared him and they say disappointment and anger drove them to expose him. >> i want to hear from all of the 15 athletes face-to-face, and then review the entire training system. we should take their accusations seriously. >> the athletes say the head coach wasn't the only problem. they said there are also problems with the team's

organization and training program. this eroded trust between the athletes, coaches and team executives. cambodians have a bid of nal farewell ttheir former king the four and mt significan day of his state funeral took place monday in pa nan pen. he ruled the war-torn country for more than half a century. his body was cremated monday evening. we look back on the often tragic events of his remarkable life. >> reporter: this is the site where cambodian people record the special event of good-bye forever to the late king. he passed away last october in beijing, where he was receiving medical treatment. he ascended the throne in 1941, wh he was just 18. he spearheaded a movement to gain independence from france,

something cambodia achieved in 1953. after handing over the monarchy to his son in 2004, he was known as king father of the nation. >> reporter: his life mirrored the 20th century cambodia. during the cold war, he skillfully won support from both east and west to help his country. but he was confined under house arrest by the china government.

in 1991, he gave his backing to a brokered peace settlement between cambodia's opposing forces. conflict among the group maintained influence as mediator. a tribunal had more than 1.7 million people that were killed during the regime through forced labor. but the tribunal won three of the four defendants in the current case, saying she suffers from alzheimer's disease. it remains unclear whether the court can hand down verdicts to

the other three who are all over 80 years old. nine years have passed since he abdicated. has en gwingnderhe scono enduring government of prime minister hung sang. for many cambodians, the demise of their former king symbolizes the end of their painful modern history. but their mental scars won't heal until the tribunal hands down its verdicts on the khmer rouge defendants. time to get a check on the weather. people in tokyo are seeing sunny skies outside their window. but it won't stay that way. >> a few systems travel over the country here in japan leaving behind the winter pattern. the blizzard conditions across

the north western seaboard will remain into the noon hours. the rain here in the metropolitan regions starting around the evening hours. will be changing into snow overnight hours and into 6:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. the snow will be piling up as much as three centimeters. heavy snow will be likely in a short time span. looks like tomorrow morning we'll see a lot of travel disturbances as we head into tomorrow in our metropolitan region. across elsewhere here in asia this is the system that will be traveling into japan. right now bringing precipitation across china. as for seoul the precipitation here will be snow. the temperatures will be dipping down into the end of the week.

thursday from 3 today to minus 7 for the high. minus 10 is the low on thursday and snow will be piling up there. beijing you're seeing temperatures dipping down. tokyo is a different story. dipping down before hand. the snow on wednesday and back to the normal territories on again. it's going to be a bumpy ride for us here. moving over to north america now. labrador and new finland you have seen the blizzard conditions. it will be a prolonged story. additional amounts of snowfall could be as much as 15 centimeters. in some areas the reports are 30 centimeters and the gusts could be as much as 100 kilometers per hour. there's still wind warnings across the regions. across the eastern ohio region this is the area we have conditions as well of 20

centimeters of snow. over the pacific northwest 50 centimeters of snow will be piling up. vancouver at 7. chicago minus 1. apparently things are very cold. the wind chill values around central canada could be as much as 50 degrees. down toward the south it's very warm. moving over to the european continent we have the atlantic system across the uk. also about 20 centimeters of snow is likely. the gusts are going to be very strong there as well. towards the south looking fine and south. 17 degrees and 13 degrees we take a look at paris. 7 degrees from 12 today. here is the extended forecast.

that's all for this edition ofnewsline i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. thanks for very much joining us. .